[Typing]
The 1990s.
Where boring, beige boxes ruled the PC world.
Or did they?
Actually, if you know where to look,
there was a bit going on in terms of experimentation,
and technological shots in the dark.
So, let's take a look at a bunch of computers that stand out to me for their weirdness,
in regards to overall look, usability and specifications alike.
First up is the Packard Bell Corner PC.
This is one of those machines that looks pretty cool at first,
but then makes no sense when you think about it.
Known informally as the "corner computer,"
you'd think these machines from 1995 were meant to fit snugly in the corner of a room.
Until you realize that plugging in the cords in the back prevents that.
Then there's also the matter of the drive bays being in weird, inconvenient locations,
meaning that you couldn't set it up in any kind of confined space
like a normal front-facing case design.
The Compaq Presario 3020.
Compaq had a grand old time designing unique, all-in-one PCs in the '90s,
and the 3020 is one of the more bizarre.
It's basically a desktop crammed into a slim, vertical case,
with an adjustable TFT LCD display built in,
as well as a four-disc CD changer,
integrated speakers, floppy drive, and even a wireless mouse.
Ahead of it's time?
Well, you bet!
So much so that the number of units sold is minuscule,
and hardly anyone has heard of the thing.
Apple's Twentieth Anniversary Mac
Released in 1997 to mark Apple's twentieth birthday,
the TAM is a machine that -- fair or not --
frequently makes it onto lists of the worst Apple products ever.
Detractors only see an ugly slab
with a subwoofer off to the side that looks like a trash can,
and hardly anyone bought it, at first, due to the launch price of $7,500.
Nevertheless, once the price was slashed, it earned a cult following,
having laid the groundwork for the all-in-one iMac designs still used today.
Mattel's Hot Wheels and Barbie computers.
These PCs from 1999 were an unmitigated disaster.
Not only were they overpriced, re-painted versions of this generic Onyx PC design,
but a manufacturing defect caused mass hardware failings, resulting in countless returns.
It got to be so bad that the manufacturer, Patriot Computers,
declared bankruptcy a year later,
with thousands of orders going unfulfilled
and people never getting their money back.
The Amiga Technologies' Walker.
After Commodore's demise in 1994,
the Escom Corporation took up the reigns of the Amiga line of computers in 1995.
One of their first orders of business was to update the aging A1200 computer
and this took the form of the Amiga Walker.
But the case that the Walker used was almost universally disliked,
being compared to a vacuum cleaner
or Doctor Who's dog, K-9.
Only two were ever constructed and the machine never left the prototype stage
with Escom and Amiga Technologies going bankrupt less than a year later.
The Sega Teradrive by IBM.
Sold only in Japan, beginning in 1991,
the Teradrive was manufactured by IBM in partnership with Sega.
Not only is it fully IBM PC-compatible, but it features built-in Sega Mega Drive hardware
as well.
All your Sega controllers and games could be played alongside your DOS games,
and even worked as a Sega software development kit, making for a killer combo.
Amstrad also did a similar thing with the Mega PC in various PAL regions,
but the Teradrive remains the one more sought after by collectors.
The Gateway Destination.
Companies like Commodore, Apple and Compaq, had already experimented with PC/TV combos
at the time,
but Gateway's Destination in 1996 took it to another level.
This was a Pentium-based desktop PC,
packed to the brim with the latest hardware,
and came bundled with a monstrous 31-inch CRT TV.
It even had a wireless keyboard, TV tuner card and a DVD-ROM,
with software to combine Windows 95 and traditional TV.
Of course, it also cost upwards of $4,000
and required a team of bodybuilders to move it around,
so it didn't exactly catch on.
V-Sync's Internet Refrigerator.
In 1998, Mastushita, in cooperation with Intergate Technology,
were one of the first to jump into the "Internet of Things" bandwagon with the Internet Fridge.
This was Pentium 2-based PC running Linux,
outfitted with a modem and a ton of sensors
all jammed into a refrigerator.
Controlled either by touch or by voice,
the idea was that it would keep track of your food,
shopping lists and recipes.
It may not have caught on back then, but perhaps the day of the Internet Fridge
is still to come.
The Tiger Learning Computer.
On the outside, this may look like your typical educational toy thing, but--
look closer and you'll see a curiously-placed "Apple Technology" sticker.
That's because inside of this children's computer from 1996
is hardware based on the legendary Apple IIe computer from the '80s.
It was planned to be a new lease on life for the old hardware, but--
the Learning Computer sadly never even made it out of the test-market phase
and examples are insanely hard to come by as a result.
And finally, the Dell WebPC.
For a time, legacy-free Internet appliance PCs were the new hotness,
starting around 1999 when Dell released their WebPC.
Referred to as "legacy-free" because they were built to use new hardware and software
and not even bother with backwards compatibility,
and "Internet appliance" because their sole function was to connect to the Internet.
Dell's example is notable because of its "mushroomy" funky design,
with a monitor jutting out of the side, like some sort of mutation,
and the oh-so-trendy colored faceplates
that clashed with the rest of its dark bluish-gray case.
And that's all for this selection of strange PCs of the '90s.
If you liked this idea, let me know.
I'm sure I could dig up some more stuff to talk about.
And if there's some that you think I missed, then, yeah, just list them in the comments.
I'd love to see more of this stuff.
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And, as always, thank you very much for watching.